Indian students are an indispensable part the British community: King's college Prez

London's top college — the revered King's College, for the first time comes out in support of re-introducing post study work visa for students.

| TNN | Updated: Aug 20, 2015, 18:49 IST

London's top college — the revered King's College, for the first time comes out in support of re-introdu... Read More

London's top college — the revered King's College, for the first time comes out in support of re-introducing post study work visa for students. The removal of the visa has resulted in a major dip in Indian students enrolling in British Universities. In an exclusive interview to TOI's London correspondent
Kounteya Sinha
, King's College president and principal Professor
Edward Byrne
who is embarking on his maiden visit to India says that bright, motivated Indian students are an indispensable part the British community and their presence in King's — in the heart of London significantly benefits British society, culture and economy. Indian students together are the third largest international student (undergraduate and postgraduate) body at King's with alumni like Sarojini Naidu and Khushwant Singh.
The interview

What is the main purpose of your visit?

This is my first trip to India as President and Principal of King's College London, a role I was appointed to in September 2014. This will be a fantastic opportunity for us to meet our partners from leading Indian institutions such as Delhi University, Lady Shri Ram College, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the Tata Memorial Cancer Centre, amongst many others, and to explore new opportunities for collaborations in education and research.

How important is India for King's and why?

India is a major part of our internationalisation programme, which aims to build long-term mutually beneficial relationships of educational exchange and collaboration. As such, India is a vital global partner and we are involved in a wide range of activities that aim to benefit society, here in India and worldwide.

We want to demonstrate that we are dedicated to attracting the best international minds from India, and build relationships with world-class institutions across the country.

Bright, motivated international students are an indispensable part the King's community and their presence in the heart of London significantly benefits our society, culture and economy. Our India Institute is a central part of King's international engagement and we are incredibly fortunate to have a great leader in Avantha Professor Sunil Khilnani.

Scotland and Scottish universities have called on Westminster to reintroduce the post study work visa so that Indian students can return to UK. So has several British universities. Would you want that too?

We are fully supportive of this and remain committed to welcoming Indian students to the UK and King's.

How important is an Indian student for the British coffer?

Bright, motivated Indian students are an indispensable part the King's community and their presence in the heart of London significantly benefits our society, culture and economy.

Have you had any distinguished Indian alumni at King's historically? Are you planning to may be have a India day in King's like university of Edinburgh has done?

India features continually in our college life. And we're very proud of our Indian alumni, not least among whom are Sarojini Naidu, the 'Nightingale of India', and Khushwant Singh. Singh, who sadly passed away recently, studied at King's 1934. He was awarded a Fellowship of King's College London in recognition of his exceptional achievements in the fields of literature and journalism.

Sarojini Naidu, the Indian independence activist, poet and former president of the Indian National Congress, had the chance to study at King's back in 1895 thanks to a scholarship she received — it's a good reminder of the immeasurable value to society a scholarship can deliver.

We have a thriving alumni branch in India of over 1300 people, many of whom are working in law, medicine, management, social sciences and education. I'm meeting some of our alumni on this visit and it's something I always relish. Our alumni are exceptional in whatever field they pursue their career and it's a real pleasure to meet them.

What major breakthroughs do you intend to achieve through this (like what tie ups do you want to finalise)?

We are very excited about collaborations in areas of health and medical research and we're keen to explore areas where we can work with Indian partners. King's is the largest centre for the education and training of healthcare professionals in Europe with pioneering research into the fields of cancer, neuroscience and mental health.

We are in dialogue with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, with whom we hope to develop certificate courses in Health, at NEIGRIHMS (Shillong) and RIMS (Imphal), Institutes of national importance in India's North East.

During the visit, a member of the delegation from King's will also visit the India Institute of Science in Bangalore where we have some exciting research projects and meet the Dean of St John's Research Institute, our partner institution for the inaugural King's-Bangalore Summer School, where the certificate course in Infection & Immunity was launched in July 2015.

We have partnerships with Delhi University (DU) that includes an outstanding new disability programme, where, working with the Equal Opportunity Cell and the Disability Unit at King's, a group of disabled students from DU visit King's for an annual programme and vice versa.

Furthermore we have an exciting research partnership with the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) in Mumbai which is addressing the challenge of delivering affordable cancer care for an ageing global population. In May 2015 we successfully launched a certificate course in Fundamentals of Oncology for both undergraduate and post graduate students, delivered by leading academics from King's and Tata Memorial Centre. 42 meritorious students were handpicked from Greater Mumbai's leading institutions to participate in this course at zero tuition fee. We are working to secure funding for this programme to enable it to continue for the next 3 years.

Have you been seeing a rise in Indian students enrolling in King's?

Indian students together are the third largest international student (undergraduate and postgraduate) body at King's. Numbers have increased, especially since we established our in-country presence. We have our offices with the UKIBC centres in in Mumbai and Delhi. With the expansion of our departments in Business and Engineering, we expect that number to rise further.

Since 2012, over 2000 students from 25 Indian cities have benefited from 2 week course programmes at our Summer Schools, which are partnered with some of India's leading institutions: Lady Shri Ram College (Delhi); HR College (Mumbai); Tata Memorial Centre (Mumbai); St John's Research Institution (Bangalore).

Around 63 Indian students have been provided with scholarships to attend the London Summer School at King's since 2012. Every year we welcome faculty and research staff from many institutions in India, including higher education, research and government, who come to meet their counterparts in King's, study there or enhance their professional skills.

Avantha Professor Sunil Khilnani directs our King's India Institute, a leading centre for the study of contemporary India that has become a destination for young researchers, with 30+ PhD students working across disciplines.

Many vice chancellors including those from Cambridge, Oxford, Edinburgh to name a few have spoken out against the present visa regime in UK which has seen a massive fall in Indian students going up UK. What is your opinion on it?

We are very much open to receiving students from India, and absolutely value the positive ethos they bring. We are working with the Government to improve visa conditions.

Students from India interested in applying to King's shouldn't be put off by the visa application process. We have a dedicated in-house team to help with visas and deal with any issues arising from UKBA.

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